Method of recording and/or reproducing pointing information

ABSTRACT

A method of recording data to an information storage medium includes arranging a plurality of areas of disk-related information, each area comprising common disk-related information and corresponding changeable parameter information according to information about changeable parameter information, and recording the plurality of areas of disk-related information in the information storage medium, wherein the changeable parameter information comprises recording speed information, information storage layer information, and write strategy information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/900,427 filedon Jul. 28, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,304,938, the disclosure of whichis incorporated herein by reference, and claims the benefit of KoreanPatent Application No. 2003-52458 filed on Jul. 29, 2003, in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, and U.S. Provisional Application No.60/497,920 filed on Aug. 27, 2003, in the U.S. Patent Trademark Office,the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an information storage mediumcomprising medium-related information including changeable informationamong information related to the information storage medium, and amethod and apparatus for recording/reproducing the medium-relatedinformation.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

General optical disks are widely used as information recording media ofoptical pickup apparatuses for recording/reproducing information in anon-contact way. Optical disks are classified as compact disks (CDs) ordigital versatile disks (DVDs) according to their information storagecapacity. Examples of recordable optical disks are 650 MB CD-R, CD-RW,4.7 GB DVD+RW, and the like. Furthermore, HD-DVDs or blu-ray disks (BDs)having a recording capacity of 20 GB or greater are under development.

FIG. 1A shows a data area structure of a conventional recordableinformation storage medium, and FIG. 1B shows a data area structure of aconventional reproduction-only information storage medium. A generalinformation storage medium includes a lead-in area, a user data area,and a lead-out area. The lead-in area stores disk-related informationand the like. The disk-related information may be recorded as pits orwobbles in a recordable information storage medium or recorded as onlypits in a reproduction-only information storage medium. The generalinformation storage medium may further include a defect management area(DMA), a buffer zone, an optimal power control (OPC) test zone, areserved area, and the like.

Examples of the disk-related information include the disk-type, the diskversion number, the disk size, the number of information storage layers,information about a writing strategy (e.g., a recording speed, arecording power, or a reproduction power), and the like. As shown inFIG. 2, parameters of a writing strategy are initial pulse time (Ttop),multi-pulse time (Tmp), and cooling pulse time (Tcl), writing power(Pw), erasing power (Pe), and bias power (Pb).

As shown in FIGS. 3A through 3F, a conventional information storagemedium stores a change in disk-related information every time thedisk-related information is partially changed and without a particulararrangement rule. The disk-related information includes commoninformation, which is common to disks, and changeable information.Examples of the changeable information include the number of informationstorage layers, information about a recording speed, information about awriting strategy, recording-related information, and the like. As shownin FIGS. 3A through 3F, the changeable information is recorded togetherwith common information in areas of the lead-in area.

When an information storage medium is loaded in a drive, the drive readsout the disk-related information, finds optimal conditions for thedrive, and records data to or reproduces data from the informationstorage medium under the optimal conditions.

The disk-related information may be recorded in various mannersaccording to the standards for the conventional information storagemedium. For example, a reproduction-only information storage medium mayrecord the disk-related information in the form of pits, and arecordable information storage medium may record the disk-relatedinformation in the form of groove wobbles. Also, during datareproduction, the reproduction-only and recordable information storagemedia may use a SUM channel and a differential channel, respectively.When data is recorded as groove wobbles, a physical length correspondingto a bit is greater than when data is recorded as pits. Hence, althoughthe same information is read out, it takes longer to read out datarecorded as groove wobbles than to read out data recorded as pits. Asthe amount of information recorded in an information storage mediumincreases, the time required to read out disk-related information getslonger particularly when the disk-related information is recorded asgroove wobbles.

BRIEF SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided aninformation storage medium comprising areas of disk-related informationhaving disk-related information to record or reproduce data with respectto the information storage medium, wherein the disk-related informationcomprises common disk-related information and changeable parameterinformation, and the areas of the disk-related information are arrangedaccording to information about the changeable parameter information. Theinformation storage medium may be an optical disk.

The common disk-related information may comprise at least one of astorage medium type, information about information storage layers, and arecording speed range. The changeable parameter information may compriseat least one of speed information, write strategy information,information storage layer information, version number information, andrecording-related information.

The changeable parameter information may comprise recording speedinformation, information storage layer information and write strategyinformation, and the areas of the disk-related information may bearranged according to ascending numerical order of the recording speed,ascending numerical order of the information storage layer, andpreference of the write strategy.

Each of the areas of disk-related information may be provided with acorresponding recording speed, information storage layer and writestrategy information set, and include pointing information whichindicates the areas of disk-related information at which thecorresponding recording speed, information storage layer and writestrategy information sets are stored.

Each of the areas of disk-related information may be provided with acorresponding recording speed, information storage layer and writestrategy information set, and the areas of disk-related information maybe sequenced according to a specified rule represented by the recordingspeed, information storage layer and write strategy information sets.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providedan information storage medium comprising areas of disk-relatedinformation having disk-related information to record or reproduce datawith respect to the information storage medium, wherein the disk-relatedinformation comprises common disk-related information and changeableparameter information comprising recording speed information,information storage layer information, and writing strategy information,and the areas of the disk-related information are sequenced according toascending numerical order of the recording speed, within each sequenceof areas with the same recording speed, according to ascending numericalorder of the information storage layer, and within each sequence ofareas with the same recording speed and storage layer, according topreference of the writing strategy.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an information storage medium comprising areas of disk-relatedinformation having disk-related information to record or reproduce datawith respect to the information storage medium, wherein the disk-relatedinformation comprises common disk-related information and changeableparameter information comprising recording speed information,information storage layer information, and writing strategy information,and each of the areas of disk-related information is provided with acorresponding recording speed, information storage layer and writestrategy information set. The areas of disk-related information may besequenced according to a specified rule represented by information ofthe recording speed, information storage layer and write strategyinformation sets.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an information storage medium comprising a common informationtable in which common disk-related information is recorded, and aparameter table in which changeable parameter information correspondingto recording and/or reproducing characteristics is recorded, whereinpointing information which indicates the area containing the changeableparameter information is recorded in the common information table. Thepointing information may be recorded as a pointing function representinga specified rule in which the changeable parameter information isexpressed in ordered pairs.

The arrangement of the ordered pairs may be based on an order from lowto high recording speeds, from lower to higher information storagelayers, and from corresponding write strategies.

The pointing information may include the order in which pieces ofinformation corresponding to a reference parameter and pieces ofinformation corresponding to a general parameter applied to thereference parameter are recorded in the ascending or descendingnumerical order of information storage layers, in the ascending ordescending numerical order, or characteristic information of the piecesof general parameter information, and in the ascending or descendingnumerical order, or characteristic information of the pieces ofreference parameter information. The reference parameter may berecording speed information, and the general parameter may be writestrategy information.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided amethod of recording data to an information storage medium, the methodcomprising recording disk-related information comprising commondisk-related information and changeable parameter information in areasof disk-related information, wherein the recording of the changeableparameter information comprises recording the changeable parameterinformation according to a specified rule to which the areas ofdisk-related information are arranged.

The changeable parameter information may comprise recording speedinformation, information storage layer information, and write strategyinformation, and the areas of disk-related information may be sequencedaccording to ascending numerical order of the recording speed, withineach sequence of areas with the same recording speed, according toascending numerical order of the information storage layer, and withineach sequence of areas with the same recording speed and storage layer,according to preference of the writing strategy.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of recording data to an information storage medium, the methodcomprising recording disk-related information in areas of disk-relatedinformation, wherein the disk-related information comprises commondisk-related information and changeable parameter information comprisingrecording speed information, information storage layer information, andwrite strategy information, and the recording of the changeableparameter information comprises recording to each of the areas ofdisk-related information, a corresponding recording speed, informationstorage layer and write strategy information set.

The method may further comprise recording pointing information to eachof the areas of disk-related information which indicates the areas ofdisk-related information at which the corresponding recording speed,information storage layer and write strategy information sets arerecorded. The areas of disk-related information may be sequencedaccording to a specified rule represented by information of therecording speed, information storage layer and write strategyinformation sets.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method of recording data to an information storage medium,the method comprising recording common disk-related information in acommon information table, recording changeable parameter informationcorresponding to recording and/or reproducing characteristics in aparameter table, and recording pointing information which indicates thearea of the information storage medium containing the changeableparameter information, in the common information table.

The recording of the pointing information may comprise recording thepointing information as a pointing function representing a specifiedrule in which the changeable parameter information is expressed inordered pairs.

The pointing information may include the order in which pieces ofinformation corresponding to a reference parameter and pieces ofinformation corresponding to a general parameter applied to thereference parameter are recorded in the ascending or descendingnumerical order of information storage layers, in the ascending ordescending numerical order, or characteristic information of the piecesof general parameter information, and in the ascending or descendingnumerical order, or characteristic information of the pieces ofreference parameter information.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided amethod of recording or reproducing data from an information storagemedium, the method comprising reading out disk-related informationcomprising common disk-related information and changeable parameterinformation from areas of disk-related information which are arrangedaccording to information about the changeable parameter information, andrecording the data according to the disk-related information orreproducing the data in consideration of the common disk-relatedinformation.

The changeable parameter information may comprise recording speedinformation, information storage layer information, and write strategyinformation, and the areas of disk-related information may be sequencedaccording to ascending numerical order of the recording speed, withineach sequence of areas with the same recording speed, according toascending numerical order of the information storage layer, and withineach sequence of areas with the same recording speed and storage layer,according to preference of the writing strategy.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided amethod of accessing data from an information storage medium, the methodcomprising reading out pointing information represented by a pointingfunction, the pointing information indicating an area of a parametertable containing changeable parameter information corresponding torecording and/or reproducing characteristics, the pointing informationbeing a specified rule represented by the pointing function and being ina common information table containing common disk-related information.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided amethod of shortening recording/reproducing time to/from an informationstorage medium, the method comprising recording as a pointing function,pointing information indicating areas of the information storage mediumat which changeable disk-related information sets are stored, thepointing function representing a specified rule, and accessing a desiredone of the changeable disk-related information sets by referring only tothe specified rule of the pointing function.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of shortening recording/reproducing time to/from an informationstorage medium, the method comprising accessing a changeabledisk-related information set by referring only to a specified rule of apointing function, the pointing function referring to pointinginformation indicating areas of the information storage medium storingchangeable disk-related information sets. The changeable disk-relatedinformation set may comprise speed information, information storagelayer information, and write strategy information.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided anapparatus for recording data on an information storage medium,comprising a writer for writing data to the information storage medium,and a controller which controls the writer to write changeable parameterinformation of disk-related information in areas of disk-relatedinformation according to a specified rule to which the areas ofdisk-related information are arranged.

The changeable parameter information may comprise recording speedinformation, information storage layer information, and write strategyinformation, and the areas of disk-related information may be sequencedaccording to ascending numerical order of the recording speed, withineach sequence of areas with the same recording speed, according toascending numerical order of the information storage layer, and withineach sequence of areas with the same recording speed and storage layer,according to preference of the writing strategy.

The changeable parameter information may comprise recording speedinformation, information storage layer information, and write strategyinformation, and the controller may control the writer to write to eachof the areas of disk-related information, a corresponding recordingspeed, information storage layer and write strategy information set.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providedan apparatus for recording data on an information storage medium,comprising a writer for writing data to the information storage medium,and a controller which controls the writer to write pointing informationas a pointing function representing a specified rule, the pointinginformation indicating an area of the information storage mediumcontaining changeable parameter information corresponding to recordingand/or reproducing characteristics.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided anapparatus for reproducing data from an information storage medium,comprising a reader for reading data from the information storagemedium, and a controller which controls the reader to read changeableparameter information of disk-related information from areas ofdisk-related information, the changeable parameter information beingstored in the areas of disk-related information according to a specifiedrule to which the areas of disk-related information are arranged.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providedan apparatus for reproducing data from an information storage medium,comprising a reader for reading data from the information storagemedium, and a controller which controls the reader to read pointinginformation having a pointing function that represents a specified rule,the pointing information indicating an area of the information storagemedium containing changeable parameter information corresponding torecording and/or reproducing characteristics.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided adisk drive for writing and/or reading with respect to an informationstorage medium, comprising a writing and/or reading section, and acontrol section which controls the writing and/or reading section,wherein the writing and/or reading section comprises a writer and/orreader which writes changeable parameter information of disk-relatedinformation in areas of disk-related information according to aspecified rule to which the areas of disk-related information arearranged, and reads the changeable parameter information from theinformation storage medium.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda disk drive for writing and/or reading with respect to an informationstorage medium, comprising a writing and/or reading section, and acontrol section which controls the writing and/or reading section,wherein the writing and/or reading section comprises a writer and/orreader which writes pointing information as a pointing functionrepresenting a specified rule, the pointing information indicating anarea of the information storage medium containing changeable parameterinformation corresponding to recording and/or reproducingcharacteristics, reads the pointing information from the informationstorage medium, and reads the changeable parameter information.

The control section may comprise an interface to receive a recordingcommend, a digital signal processor (DSP) which performs ECC encoding onto-be-recorded data, a radio frequency amplifier which converts datareceived from the DSP into an RF signal, a servo which servo-controlsthe reading and/or writing section, and a system controller whichperforms initialization for recording.

Additional and/or other aspects and advantages of the present inventionwill be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part,will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice ofthe invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent and more readily appreciated from the following detaileddescription, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings ofwhich:

FIG. 1A is a layout of a conventional recordable information storagemedium;

FIG. 1B is a layout of a conventional reproduction-only informationstorage medium;

FIG. 2 shows general recording-related parameters in a writing pulsepattern;

FIGS. 3A through 3F are examples of a layout of a conventionalinformation storage medium in which disk-related information is recoded;

FIG. 4 shows a layout of an information storage medium according to anembodiment of the present invention in which disk-related information isrecorded;

FIG. 5 is a family tree of ordered pairs of disk-related parameters thatare recorded according to a pointing function, which is recorded in aninformation storage medium according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for illustrating a method of recording pointinginformation to and/or reproducing the same from an information storagemedium according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an apparatus for recording/reproducingpointing information to/from an information storage medium according toan embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a disk drive in which the apparatus of FIG.7 is implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the presentinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elementsthroughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain thepresent invention by referring to the figures.

Referring to FIG. 4, an information storage medium according to anembodiment of the present invention stores common disk-relatedinformation in a common information table and changeable disk-relatedinformation, also referred to as changeable parameter information, in aparameter table next to the common information table, so as toeffectively read out disk-related information where the informationstorage medium is loaded in a drive. According to an aspect of thepresent invention, the common information table stores a pointingfunction that represents pointing information which indicates the areathat stores the changeable parameter information. The changeableparameter information may be updated due to an increase in the number ofinformation storage layers and diversifications of a recording speed anda writing strategy (WS).

Examples of the common disk-related information include the storagemedium type (e.g., a reproduction-only storage medium, a write-oncestorage medium, and a rewritable storage medium), information aboutinformation storage layers, and a recording speed range. The recordingspeed range may be represented using maximum and minimum recordingspeeds. The number of recording speeds may also be recorded in thecommon information table.

Examples of the changeable parameter information include informationabout a recording speed, the number of information storage layers, andinformation about a writing strategy. Such changeable parameterinformation may be different for disks and updated with a futureincrease in the number of information storage layers and futurediversifications of the recording speed and the WS.

For example, this changeable parameter information is recorded in aspecified area of a disk-related information area. According to anaspect, the pointing information, which indicates the area that containsthe changeable parameter information, is recorded as a pointing functionwhich represents a specified rule according to the present invention.The pointing function may include a plurality of parameters and varyaccording to a reference parameter among the parameters.

To be more specific, the parameters included in the pointing functionmay refer to information about a recording speed, information about arecording strategy, information about the number of information storagelayers, and the like.

A first example in which information about a recording speed isdetermined as a reference parameter for a pointing function will now bedescribed. If a useable recording speed ranges from 1× to 8× speeds, thepointing function depends on the number of and the order of recordingspeeds.

If the information about a recording speed is a reference parameter fora pointing function and includes first through n-th recording speeds,the pointing function may include the following components as shown inTable 1.

TABLE 1 First recording speed Writing strategy(s) applicable to firstrecording speed Second recording speed Writing strategy(s) applicable tosecond recording speed . . . . . . (n − 1)th recording speed Writingstrategy(s) applicable to (n − 1)th recording speed n-th recording speedWriting strategy(s) applicable to n-th recording speed

The first recording speed and each of the recording writing strategy orstrategies applied to the first recording speed are arranged accordingto a specified rule, and the second recording speed and each of therecording writing strategy(s) applied to the second recording speed arearranged according to the specified rule. Likewise, the n-th (where ndenotes a natural number) recording speed and each of the writingstrategy(s) applied to the n-th recording speed are arranged accordingto the specified rule. These recording speeds and writing strategies maybe recorded in each information storage layer.

To be more specific, if the information storage medium stores fourusable recording speeds and four useable writing strategies, a pointingfunction may be recorded as four bytes. The number of bytes for apointing function may vary according to the number of pieces ofinformation corresponding to a reference parameter. In other words, whena recording speed is a reference parameter for a pointing function andinformation about the recording speed includes four recording speeds,four bytes of changeable disk-related information as shown in Table 2can be construed with respect to the pointing function.

TABLE 2 Recording speed information Writing strategy information ByteNo. Seventh to fourth bits Third to zeroth bits 0 0001 0011 1 0010 00112 0100 0100 3 1000 1000

As shown in Table 2, if the pointing function prescribes that a firstrecording speed is recorded in a fourth bit of each byte, a secondrecording speed is recorded in a fifth bit thereof, a third recordingspeed is recorded in a sixth bit thereof, and a fourth recording speedis recorded in a seventh bit thereof, a drive can recognize that thefirst recording speed has been recorded in a first byte, the secondrecording speed has been recorded in a second byte, the third recordingspeed has been recorded in a third byte, and the fourth recording speedhas been recorded in a fourth byte. If the pointing function prescribesthat a first writing strategy WS1 recorded in a zeroth bit of each byte,a second writing strategy WS2 is recorded in a first bit thereof a thirdwriting strategy WS3 is recorded in a second bit thereof, and a fourthwriting strategy WS4 is recorded in a third bit thereof, the drive canrecognize that the WS1 and WS2 can be applied to each of the first andsecond recording speeds, the WS3 can be applied to the third recordingspeed, and the WS4 can be applied to the fourth recording speed.

Recording speed information may be recorded in many ways. For example,recording speed information may be expressed as any combination of aplurality of bits. To be more specific, if recording speed informationis recorded as a combination of four bits, it may be recorded as 16 bitcombinations. That is, 0001b represents a 1× speed, 0010b represents a2× speed, 0011b represents a 3× speed, 0100 represents a 4× speed, and0101 represents a 5× speed. As another example, each piece of recordingspeed information may be recorded in each bit. If first through fourthrecording speeds are recorded in four bits, the first recording speed isrecorded in the first bit, the second recording speed is recorded in thesecond bit, the third recording speed is recorded in the third bit, andthe fourth recording speed is recorded in the fourth bit.

According to the pointing function corresponding to Table 2, first andsecond writing strategies are applicable to the first recording speedand also to the second recording speed. A third writing strategy isapplicable to the third recording speed, and a fourth writing strategyis applicable to the fourth recording speed. The pointing functionrepresents a rule about the order or arrangement way in which theserecording speeds and writing strategies are recorded.

According to an aspect of the present invention, because the recordingspeed information and the recording strategy information are recorded ineach information storage layer, they may be recorded in ascending ordescending order of the information storage layers.

If the recording speed information includes a 1× speed, a 2× speed, a 4×speed, and a 8× speed, and the writing strategy information includesfirst through fourth writing strategies WS1, WS2, WS3, and WS4, acorresponding pointing function creates four cases of disk-relatedinformation because the number of useable recording speeds is 4. Inother words, 4 bytes are used to represent the four recording speedsthat serve as a reference parameter for a pointing function.

In view of writing strategies, a pointing function may be defined invarious ways. For example, disk-related information may be recorded infour bytes. Each of the useable recording speeds may be recorded in theseventh through fourth bits of each byte, and a writing strategy(s)applicable to the corresponding recording speed may be recorded in thethird through zeroth bits.

If the recording speeds recorded in the common information table are 1×,2×, 4×, and 8× speeds, and the corresponding information storage mediumincludes four information storage layers L0, L1, L2, and L3, pieces ofpointing information represented by a pointing function may be expressedin ordered pairs, for example, (recording speed, writing strategy,information storage layer), such as: (1× speed, WS1, L0)→(1× speed, WS1,L1)→(133 0 speed, WS1, L2)→(1× speed, WS1, L3)→(1× speed, WS2, L0)→(1×speed, WS2, L1)→(1× speed, WS2, L2)→(1× speed, WS2, L3)→(2× speed, WS1,L0)→(2× speed, WS1, L1)→(2× speed, WS1, L2)→(2× speed, WS1, L3)→(2×speed, WS2, L0)→(2× speed, WS2, L1)→(2× speed WS2, L2)→(2× speed, WS2,L3)→(4× speed, WS3, L0)→(4× speed, WS3, L1)→(4× speed WS3, L2)→(4×speed, WS3, L3)→(8× speed, WS4, L0)→(8× speed, WS4, L1)→(8× speed WS4,L2)→(8× speed, WS4, L3).

The above arrangement order of ordered pairs represents a pointinginformation arrangement rule in which each recording speed and a writingstrategy or strategies applicable to the corresponding recording speedare arranged in the ascending numerical order of information storagelayers (i.e., L0→L1→L2→L3). To be more specific, first, the 1× speed andthe first writing strategy WS1 applicable to the 1× speed make a pairwith each of the information storage layers L0, L1, L2, and L3 in theascending numerical order of the information storage layers, the 1×speed and the second writing strategy WS2 applicable to the 1× speedmake a pair with each of the information storage layers L0, L1, L2, andL3 in the ascending numerical order of the information storage layers.Next, the 2× speed and each of the first and second writing strategiesWS1 and WS2 applicable to the 2× speed make a pair with each of theinformation storage layers L0, L1, L2, and L3 in the ascending numericalorder of the information storage layers. This arrangement rule isequally applied to the 4× and 8× speeds and the third and fourth writingstrategies WS3 and WS4. Hence, a drive can recognize the location wheredesired information exists, from this arrangement rule.

The above-described arrangement rule of pointing information is but onenon-limiting example. Even when changeable disk-related information ischanged, the corresponding pointing function may also represent pointinginformation corresponding to the changed information.

A second example in which the recording speed is adopted as thereference parameter for the pointing function will now be described. Inthis case, disk-related information based on the pointing function is asshown in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Byte Recording speed information Recording strategy informationNo. Seventh to fourth bits Third to zeroth bits 0 0001 0001 1 0010 00012 0100 0010 3 1000 0100

In Table 3, the first writing strategy W1S is recorded in the byteswhere first and second recording speeds are recorded, the second writingstrategy WS2 is recorded in the byte where a third recording speed isrecorded, and the third writing strategy WS3 is recorded in the bytewhere a fourth recording speed is recorded. The pointing functionrepresents pointing information about the locations of the recordingspeeds and writing strategies.

The disk-related information may be recorded in many ways according tothe present invention. For example, a reference parameter and a generalparameter applicable to the reference parameter may be recorded in eachof the information storage layers in the ascending or descendingnumerical order of the information storage layers, in the ascending ordescending numerical order of, or according to characteristic(s) of thereference parameter, and in the ascending or descending numerical orderof, or according to characteristic(s) of the general parameter. When thereference parameter is information about a recording speed, each ofuseable recording speeds may be numbered, and the reference parameterand a general parameter applicable to the reference parameter may berecorded in each of the information storage layers in the ascending ordescending numerical order of the recording speeds

To be more specific, when the recording speeds recorded are 1×, 2×, 4×,and 6× speeds, and the corresponding information storage medium includesfour information storage layers L0, L1, L2, and L3, pointing informationrepresented by the pointing function corresponding to Table 3 can beexpressed in as following exemplary ordered pairs (recording speed,writing strategy, information storage layer), such as: (1× speed, WS1,L0)→(1× speed, WS1, L1)→(1× speed, WS1, L2)→(1× speed, WS1, L3)→(2×speed, WS1, L0)→(2× speed, WS1, L1)→(2× speed, WS1, L2)→(2× speed, WS1,L3) →(3× speed, WS2, L0)→(3× speed, WS2, L1)→(3× speed, WS2, L2)→(3×speed, WS2, L3)→(6× speed, WS3, L0)→(6× speed, WS3, L1)→(6× speed, WS3,L2)→(6× speed, WS3, L3). The above arrangement of the above orderedpairs is based on a rule in which each of the recording speeds and awriting strategy or strategies applicable to the corresponding recordingspeed make a pair with each of the information storage layers L0, L1,L2, and L3 in the ascending numerical order of the information storagelayers (i.e., L0→L1→L2→L3).

The pointing function according to the above exemplary embodimentrepresents the order/locations in which pieces of parameter informationabout information storage layers, multiple speeds, and writingstrategies are recorded on an information storage medium according tothe present invention. In other words, the pointing function may includea rule in which the pieces of parameter information are expressed inordered pairs. From this rule, the location where desired informationexists may be determined. In the above example, the arrangement ofordered pairs is based on a rule in which pieces of parameterinformation are arranged in the order of from lower to higherinformation storage layers, from first to fourth writing strategies WS1to WS4, and from low to high multiple speeds. The pointing functionaspect may represent an information arrangement rule that may be appliedto other information storage media, so that an information storagemedium adopting the pointing function according to the presentembodiment is compatible with and extensible to other informationstorage media products.

If writing strategy information is adopted as a reference parameter forthe pointing function and includes several writing strategies that aresupported by the corresponding information storage medium, each of thewriting strategies matches with a recording speed(s) applicable to thecorresponding writing strategy. In this case, a pointing function can berepresented as in Table 4.

TABLE 4 First writing strategy WS1 Recording speed(s) applicable to WS1Second writing strategy WS2 Recording speed(s) applicable to WS2 . . . .. . (m − 1)th writing strategy Recording speed(s) applicable to WS(m− 1) WS(m − 1) m-th writing strategy WSm Recording speed(s) applicableto WSm

According to Table 4, the pointing function may determine a rule inwhich, when writing strategy information is a reference parameter, eachof the writing strategies and a recording speed(s) applicable to thecorresponding writing strategy are recorded in the order of informationstorage layers. For example, when an information storage medium includesfirst through fourth writing strategies WS1, WS2, WS3, and WS4, firstand second recording speeds RV1 and RV2 are applied to the first writingstrategy WS1, second and third recording speeds RV2 and RV3 are appliedto the second writing strategy WS2, the third recording speed RV3 isapplied to the third writing strategy WS3, and a fourth recording speedRV4 is applied to the fourth writing strategy WS4. In this case, orderedpairs in which each of the writing strategies and each of the recordingspeeds applied to the corresponding writing strategy make a pair witheach of the information storage layers in the order of the informationstorage layers are illustrated in a family tree of FIG. 5. Theinformation storage layers are information storage layers L0, L1, L2,and L3.

Referring to FIG. 5, the writing strategy information is a referenceparameter for the pointing function according to the present invention,and pointing information based on the pointing function may be expressedin the following exemplary ordered pairs (writing strategy, recordingspeed, information storage layer): (WS1, RV1, L0)→(WS1, RV1, L1)→(WS1,RV1, L2)→(WS1, RV1, L3)→(WS1, RV2, L0)→(WS1, RV2, L1)→(WS1, RV2,L2)→(WS1, RV2, L3)→(WS2, RV2, L0)→(WS2, RV2, L1)→(WS2, RV2, L2)→(WS2,RV2, L3)→(WS2, RV3, L0)→WS2, RV3, L1)→(WS2, RV3, L2)→(WS2, RV3,L3)→(WS3, RV3, L0)→(WS3, RV3, L1)→(WS3, RV3, L2)→(WS3, RV3, L3)→(WS4,RV4, L0)→(WS4, RV4, L1)→(WS4, RV4, L2)→(WS4, RV4, L3).

Given 8 information storage layers, 4 recording speeds, and 2 writingstrategies, 64 (8 ×4×2) ordered pairs may be obtained. When all of the64 ordered pairs are recorded, a conventional information storage mediumrequires 64 pointers to individually point the 64 ordered pairs.However, the information storage medium according to an embodiment ofthe present invention may represent the parameter information as aspecified rule represented by a pointing function, so that the largeamount of pointing information can be effectively recorded in only asmall number of bytes.

As described above, the disk-related information may be recorded in manyways. In particular, according to an aspect of the present invention,changeable parameter information may be provided to indicate a specifiedrule to result in units of disk-related information having acorresponding sequence in the information storage medium. The areas ofdisk-related information may be arranged according to information aboutthe changeable parameter information.

For example, areas of disk-related information may be arranged accordingto information about a reference parameter, for example, ascending ordescending numerical order of, or characteristic(s) of the referenceparameter, information about an information storage layer, for example,ascending or descending numerical order of the information storagelayers, and information about a general parameter applicable to thereference the reference parameter, for example, ascending or descendingnumerical order of, or characteristic(s) of the general parameter.

Accordingly, an information storage medium according to anotherembodiment of the present invention comprises areas of disk-relatedinformation which are arranged according to information about areference parameter, an information storage layer, and a generalparameter. To be more specific, and for example, where the referenceparameter is information about a recording speed, plurality of recordingspeeds being applicable, the information storage medium comprises aplurality of recording layers, and various write strategies areapplicable, a specified rule may be expressed as: (recording speed,information storage layer, writing strategy preference (WSp)). That is,the areas of disk-related information is sequenced according toascending numerical order of the recording speed, according to ascendingnumerical order of the information storage layer, and according to thepreference of the writing strategy.

According to an aspect of the present invention, areas of disk-relatedinformation is sequenced according to ascending numerical order of therecording speed (1×, 2×, 3×, etc.,), then within each sequence of areaswith the same recording speed, according to ascending numerical order ofthe information storage layer (L0, L1, L2, etc.,), and then within eachsequence of areas with the same recording speed and storage layer,according to the preference of the writing strategy. For example, wherean information storage medium includes four information storage layersL0, L1, L2, and L3, (1× speed, L0, WSp1) is provided in 0^(th) area, (1×speed, L0, WSp2) is provided in 1^(st) area, (1× speed, L1, WSp1) isprovided in 2^(nd) area, (1× speed, L1, WSp2) is provided in 3^(rd)area, (1× speed, L2, WSp1) is provided in 4^(th) area, (1× speed, L2,WSp2) is provided in 5^(th) area, (1× speed, L3, WSp1) is provided in6^(th) area, (1× speed, L3, WSp2) is provided in 7 ^(th) area, (2×speed, L0, WSp3) is provided in 8^(th) area, etc.,

According to another aspect of the present invention, pointinginformation which indicates the location of the changeable parameterinformation with respect to the areas of disk-related information may beprovided in each area of disk-related information. For example, whereeach area of disk-related information comprises common disk-relatedinformation and applicable changeable parameter information, forexample, a corresponding recording speed, information storage layer andwrite strategy information set, pointing information which indicates thelocation of the recording speed, information storage layer and writestrategy information sets is provided in each of the areas ofdisk-related information.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, commondisk-related information and changeable parameter information may bearranged using one or more tables.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of recording pointinginformation to and/or reproducing the same from an information storagemedium according to the FIG. 4 embodiment. In an information storagemedium according to an embodiment of the present invention, informationthat is common to all kinds of disks is recorded in a common informationtable of a specified area, for example, a disk-related information area,and parameter information (i.e., information having different recordingcharacteristics for disks or changeable information) is recorded in aparameter information table of the specified area. A pointing functionrepresenting pointing information which indicates the area that containsthe parameter is recorded in the common information table. The pointinginformation included in the pointing function is represented as aspecified rule so that the location of needed information can be rapidlyaccessed.

Referring to FIG. 6, first, an information storage medium according tothe present embodiment, for example, a disk, is loaded in a disk drivein operation 11. Thereafter, disk-related information is read from thecommon information table in operation 12. Next, pointing informationthat points the locations where needed parameters are recorded is readfrom the pointing function in operation 14. Then, in operation 16, datais recorded to or reproduced from the disk, according to the neededparameters recorded in the locations corresponding to the read-outpointing information.

According to another method of the present invention, where aninformation storage medium comprises areas of disk-related informationwhich are arranged according to changeable parameter information ofdisk-related information, the disk-related information is read and datais recorded according to the read disk-related information or reproducedin consideration of common disk-related information of the disk-relatedinformation medium.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an apparatus for recording/reproducingpointing information to/from an information storage medium according toan embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus includes awriter/reader 1 and a controller 2. The writer/reader 1 writes data toand/or reads data from a disk 30, which is the information storagemedium according to an embodiment of the present invention. Thecontroller 2 controls the writer/reader 1 so that pointing informationindicating locations where disk-related information has been recordedcan be written to or read from the disk 30. Parameter information isreproduced from the read-out pointing information, and data is recordedon or reproduced from the disk 30 according to the reproduced parameterinformation.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a disk drive in which the apparatus of FIG.7 is implemented. Referring to FIG. 8, the disk drive includes a pickup10 to serve as the writer/reader 1. The disk 30 is loaded in the pickup10. The disk drive further includes a PC I/F 21, a DSP 22, an RF AMP 23,a servo 24, and a system controller 25, all of which constitute thecontroller 2.

Upon recording, the PC I/F 21 receives a recording command together withdata to be recorded, from a host (not shown). The system controller 25performs initialization for recording. More specifically, the systemcontroller 25 reads out information for initialization, such as,disk-related information stored in a lead-in area of a disk, andprepares for recording based on the read-out information. The DSP 22performs ECC encoding on the to-be-recorded data received from the PCI/F 21 by adding data such as parity to the received data, and thenmodulates the ECC-encoded data in a specified manner. The RF AMP 23converts the data received from the DSP 22 into an RF signal. The pickup10 records the RF signal received from the RF AMP 23 to the disk 30. Theservo 24 receives a command for servo control from the system controller25 and servo-controls the pickup 10. If the disk 30 stores noreproducing speed information, the system controller 25 commands thepickup 10 to write the reproducing speed information to a specified areaof the disk 30 when recording starts, while recording is being executed,or after recording has been completed.

Upon reproduction, the PC I/F 21 receives a reproduction command fromthe host (not shown). The system controller 25 performs initializationfor reproduction. When the initialization is completed, the systemcontroller 25 reads out reproducing speed information recorded on thedisk 30 and performs reproduction at a reproducing speed correspondingto the read-out reproducing speed information. The pickup 10 projects alaser beam onto the disk 30, receives a laser beam reflected by the disk30, and outputs an optical signal. The RF AMP 23 converts the opticalsignal received from the pickup 10 into an RF signal, supplies modulateddata obtained from the RF signal to the DSP 22, and supplies a servocontrol signal obtained from the RF signal to the servo 24. The DSP 22demodulates the modulated data and outputs data obtained through ECCerror correction. The servo 24 receives the servo control signal fromthe RF AMP 23 and a command for servo control from the system controller25 and servo-controls the pickup 10. The PC I/F 21 sends data receivedfrom the DSP 22 to the host (not shown).

As described above, changeable parameter information of disk-relatedinformation may be arranged according to a specified rule to result inareas of disk-related information having a corresponding sequence in theinformation storage medium. According to one embodiment, areas ofdisk-related information may be sequenced according to information aboutthe recording speed, information storage layer, and preference of thewriting strategy.

According to another embodiment, an information storage medium may storea pointing function that represents a specified rule about pointinginformation recorded in a common information table of a disk-relatedinformation area. That is, pieces of pointing information that indicateareas that store changeable disk-related information are recorded as apointing function which represents a specified recording rule of thepieces of pointing information, so that pointing informationcorresponding to change in the disk-related information can beeffectively recorded, and necessary disk-related information can be moreefficiently accessed by referring to the specified rule of the pointingfunction. The pointing function aspect may be applied to otherinformation storage media to facilitate compatibility and extensibility.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed, the present invention is not limited to the describedembodiments. Instead, it would be appreciated by those skilled in theart that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing fromthe principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which isdefined by the claims and their equivalents.

1. A method of controlling a drive for reproducing data from and/orrecording data to an information storage medium, the method comprising:receiving write strategy information and recording speed information;locating disk-related information corresponding to the write strategyinformation and the recording speed information in a plurality ofdisk-related information stored on the information storage medium; andcontrolling the drive according to the located disk-related information;wherein the plurality of disk-related information are ordered accordingto write strategy information and recording speed information includedin each of the plurality of disk-related information.
 2. A method ofcontrolling a drive for reproducing data from and/or recording data toan information storage medium, the method comprising: receiving writestrategy information, information storage layer information, andrecording speed information; locating disk-related informationcorresponding to the write strategy information, the information storagelayer information, and the recording speed information in a plurality ofdisk-related information stored on the information storage medium; andcontrolling the drive according to the located disk-related information;wherein the plurality of disk-related information are ordered accordingto recording speed information, information storage layer information,and the write strategy information included in each of the plurality ofdisk-related information.
 3. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe plurality of disk-related information are ordered according to anascending numerical order of a recording speed and an ascendingnumerical order of an information storage layer.
 4. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the plurality of disk-related information areordered according to an ascending numerical order of the recordingspeed, and within each sequence of disk-related information having asame recording speed, according to a preference of a write strategy.